My engineering college interview Part5:
Even as we were reaching the bus stop, to our surprise and good luck, we found a bus (5B) stopping there as if to pick us up. We didn't lose any time in getting into the bus, for if we missed it, we might have to wait for another hour. That was the frequency of the route bus then. We got happily seated in the bus and when the conductor approached us, we told him to give us two tickets without specifying our destination. Immediately without any hesitation the conductor took the four anna coin which I gave, gave us two tickets and returned one anna as balance. As the bus was moving, we were eagerly looking forward to our planned destination, namely Mylapore, when the conductor's voice broke our silence asking all of us to get down. We were just wondering how quickly we had reached Mylapore, when the voice from nearby was announcing that it was Saidapet. After enquiries, we got confirmed that it was indeed Saidapet and not Mylapore and then came to know that at the college stop, we had taken the wrong bus going in the opposite direction from Mylapore to Saidapet, instead of from Saidapet to Mylapore. The same bus after a break of some five or ten minutes was about to start to Mylapore and the conductor was shouting that all those who want to go to Mylapore could get into the bus. But we were very hesitant to take the same bus to avoid the embarrassment of the conductor noticing us returning by the same bus by which we came to that place and poking fun at us asking whether we were "oorukku puchcha " (ஊருக்குப் புச்சா?) in Madras slang, meaning whether we were new to the place. To avoid that awkward situation, we decided to skip that bus and wait for another hour till the next bus came, making sure that it was a different conductor and not the same old one whom we wanted to avoid and then got into the bus. At last we were in the right track and in the right bus and it dropped us at the Mylapore tank terminus. We were really moved by the majesticity of the temple tower with the expansive tank, full of water, showing the temple in its glorious reflection and the broad water- bound Mcadam roads ( in those days those roads really looked very broad) all round the temple, with very few people on the roads and with no pollution that one witnesses today. I must also add at this point that there were only a few huts here and there beyond Kapali theatre (now defunct) upto Adyar and beyond and the entire stretch had a green cover with wet lands on either side of the road, a big banyan tree at the Adyar Lattice bridge junction and an apology of a small bus depot. The college looked as if it was located far away from the madding crowd at a godforsaken land. There were no mutistoreyed or high rise buildings then. The entire city wore the look of a large village as Krishnamenon pointed out at that time. Mylapore was more or less the southern end of Madras.
After ascertaining the way to go to the uncle's house who was supposed to meet us in the station and whom we missed, we decided to go by walk to his house, since it was not far off but was within walkable distance. But not having taken anything since last night since we left our native place, we thought that we would first finish our lunch in one of the nearest hotels. We saw one newly constructed Gupta's hotel near Luz Corner (where now P ORR and Sons and other shops are located. I think this is a jinxed location since many shops and eateries have come and gone over the years, some of them being demolished and reconstructed again and again), where we had our lunch. We left the hotel in a hurry towards the house of the uncle whom we missed. When I was halfway through, I found that I had forgotten to wear my chappals and had left it at the hotel itself. So we both again rushed back to Gupta's hotel and found my chappals safe in the place in which I left them. If it were today, I am sure the chappals would have to be written off. We restarted our trip to that uncle's house and when we reached the place, only the lady of the house was there. We introduced ourselves to the lady who was happy to receive us and when asked where the uncle had gone, she told us that he had gone to the post office to put up a fight with the postmaster as to why the telegram sent two days back was delivered so late. It seemed the telegram reached them only that morning after the arrival of our train and that was why he was not able to come to the station to receive us. Even as we were talking about the inefficiency of the postal and telegraph service, uncle entered the house with panted breath and was surprised to see us and after formal introductions, explained all that happened and profusely apologised for the inconvenience caused to us. After some rest, we both went to meet our friend cum relative who was staying in one of the rooms in YMIA hostel opposite uncle's house. He was doing his B.L in law college at that time.
Now that the interview business was over, in consultation with our friend , we chalked out some plans to go round and see important places in and around.
We decided to see Marina Beach first that evening, one of my dreamland fantasies and I was waiting for the opportunity to taste the proverbial "Manga Thenga Pattani Sundal" ( மாங்கா, தேங்கா, பட்டாணி சுண்டல்) there. One of my very close friends had said so much about it so many times, that the very thought of it caused drools in my mouth and it became something so irresistible to me that as soon as we reached the beach, the first thing that we did was to purchase the Sundal for which Madras that is Chennai beach was and is famous till date. With Sundal in one hand, walking along the shore with waves kissing and washing our legs, I felt as if I was on cloud nine. I was thrilled at the roaring waves and at the sight of the vast expanse of water in the ocean as any first time visitor would. Oh! What a sight! What a sight! I have never seen an ocean before. It was all thrill all over. No words could express the exaltation that I felt at the sight of the sea for the first time in my life. I felt as if I was on seventh heaven! ( why it is cloud nine and why this is seventh heaven, I don't know. What about other numbers?) If I were a poet, I do not know how I would have expressed my feelings. If I were a writer, I do not how I would have given life to my feelings, because my feelings were beyond words. That was the most unforgettable day of my life. (One must be young enough to enjoy such things in life. Age steals most of the pleasures of life from us. However I enjoyed a similar thrill after many many years when I was sixty when I saw Disneyland in States.)
There was a radio mounted on a central post in Marina beach around which there was a circular bench raised over a platform for people to sit and listen. Many people, young and old would sit on the circular bench and religiously listen to the programmes that were broadcast.The crowd there was moderate (at that time I thought it was a huge crowd) compared to what it is today. There were no lining of shops, not much of a littering and no visible pollution anywhere, the whole beach looking very clean comparatively. If you go to the beach today, you will be able to see the heads and not the sand, whereas then, we were able to see the vast spread of sand.
When I was floating in a dreamland of my own, I happened to see a beggar there and immediately the thought that occurred to me was "what a lucky person he must be to come to the beach daily to beg". In fact I envied the beggar, not only him, but all the beggars in the city, little realising then that a major part of my life in Madras is going to be like that of the beggar only, without the advantage which he possessed! (for in those days, engineers were paid much less than what a beggar could earn in the city . Even as an engineering teacher, the pay was a pittance till recently, until the UGC revised the scales of pay some years back).
Tram was another attraction to me and those who know the terrain of Madras will be surprised to know that trams were running in those days in such narrow roads like Royapettah high (!) road and Kutcheri road. I think people in those days had a high sense of humour. Otherwise how do you explain a narrow road being named as Broadway. The tram bell sound used to be very alluring. It was during Rajaji's regime that tram service was terminated in the city. The trams used to go so slow that anybody could get into it at any time when the trams were on their move. But the movement of the tram along the track like a caterpillar was a sight to see.
The next one day that was available for us to see Madras was not adequate and whatever places of interest we could visit, we did, such as Museum, Zoo, My ladies Garden, Moore Market and so on some of which have changed places and shape and some of them have vanished today. When I had to leave Madras and go back , I felt like a recently married man who had to take leave of his wife to go back to the office on expiry of his honeymoon holidays! ( even though I was not married then!). So most reluctantly I left back to my native place to report on my interview performance without revealing my real intention of my unwillingness to join Engineering, even if offered, a remote possibility as per my self assessment, and then rushed to Thiruchy . When I met the warden cum principal the next day, I again promised him that under no circumstances I would desert my Maths honours course and even if offered a seat in engineering, I wouldn't join engineering but would decline the offer.
